In some manufacturing processes, parts may be processed during some operations and later be separated prior to use of a part in a product. These operations where the parts are processed together may result in the parts becoming stuck together. They may for example become stuck together in a stack after being stacked together and heat treated where the heat treating results in the parts being stuck together in the stack.
The parts must then be separated before being subsequently used such as in making a product that includes one or more of the parts. A typical method of separating parts stuck together such as in a stack of parts has involved hitting the stack of parts with a force sufficient to cause the parts to break apart from each other. For example, hitting the stack of parts with a rubber mallet, knocking the stack against a surface such as a table, or the like. Among others, this method presents ergonomic and scrap issues.
Some products are made, at least in part, by laminating. That is, a plurality of laminations are secured together. For example, stators used in electric motors are often made of laminations secured together. The laminations may be stamped from a sheet of ferromagnetic material, such as ferromagnetic steel or iron. Once the laminations for a stator are stamped, they are stacked (if not already stacked from the stamping operation), and heat treated. In this regard, the stack of laminations may include laminations for multiple stators. It should be understood that laminations may also be stuck together in a stack as a result of manufacturing processes other than heat treating and need to be separated before being laminated together. The laminations are then separated from each other by the application of manual force as described in above. In addition to the ergonomic and scrap issues that this method can present, it can cause some degradation in the ferromagnetic properties of the laminations